Browns' John Dorsey discovered new TE Demetrius Harris when he was in Green Bay

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

Saturday

Mar 16, 2019 at 9:15 AM

A former college basketball player, Demetrius Harris arrives as an unknown but could become a substantial Browns figure at tight end.

John Dorsey is spoiled when it comes to tight ends.

He spoiled himself when he stole former Cleveland Heights High School quarterback Travis Kelce at No. 63 overall in the 2013 draft.

It was Dorsey's first roundup as general manager of the Chiefs. He liked what Kelce had done after becoming a tight end for the Cincinnati Bearcats. No one noticed, but after that draft, Dorsey added a complete unknown as an undrafted rookie. The latter player, Demetrius Harris, signed with Dorsey's Browns on Wednesday.

Kelce has become a monster. As a second-year pro in 2014, he caught 67 of the 87 passes for which he was targeted. In 2018, he gave the Chiefs 103 catches, 1,336 yards and 10 touchdowns, making first team All-Pro for the second time.

In Dorsey's quest to upgrade the tight end position in his second season as Browns GM, he couldn't get Kelce, but he did land the 6-foot-6 Harris.

With 47 catches across the last three seasons, Harris seems barely a ripple amid Dorsey's Odell Beckham Jr. splash. Yet, there is a strong sense incumbent Browns tight end starter David Njoku is under the microscope, and that Harris will be given a chance to carve out a big role.

As Dorsey put it after his flurry of acquisitions, "You can’t have enough competition at all spots. ... What we attempted to do is add some good football players, and then let’s go compete."

Harris sounds ready to put some heat on Njoku after years in Kelce's shadow.

"I just want to bring the grit and help bring the winning culture back," Harris said. "Dorsey and the organization are building an amazing team. There are so many pieces around (Baker) Mayfield."

Harris played zero snaps of college football (explanation below), but he has seen plenty of NFL action. He gave the Chiefs 1,649 offensive snaps across the last four seasons. Njoku has been on the field for 1,371 snaps since the Sashi Brown group spent a first-round pick on him in 2017.

"I'm most definitely an all-around tight end, but a lot of people don’t know that," Harris said. "I'm trying to get the right opportunity to showcase my talent. People really didn’t get to see it because I was behind Kelce.

"As far as blocking ... just don’t let anybody past you and get to the quarterback. That is how I was really going through blocking people. It is all just fight."

Catching? There have been glimpses. In a 27-24 win at Denver late in 2017, he gave the Chiefs three catches for 73 yards. In what turned out to be Dorsey's last game as general manager before he got fired the following spring, Harris had two catches in a playoff loss to the Titans.

Harris sees a bright side to having been stuck behind an All-Pro.

"I learned so much from Kelce," he said. "He learned stuff from me. We are close. We were always roommates at away games.

"This is most definitely a better opportunity. I just wanted a fresh start."

Harris took the Antonio Gates route to the NFL, playing basketball in college (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) when Dorsey identified him as a football prospect. The 6-foot-6 Harris grew up in Jacksonville, Ark., and made all-state in football and basketball before migrating to basketball in college.

Harris likely would have joined the Packers had Dorsey not jumped from Green Bay to Kansas City in 2013. While still with the Packers, Dorsey received a tip he should check out Harris on the basketball court and assess how his size, athleticism and aggressiveness might transfer to football.

"I always look at five or six basketball guys a year," Dorsey told the Milwaukee Journal at the time. "We went to Virginia one year to evaluate 50 basketball players. Mid-majors is where you make your money on stuff like that, because they're not in the pool for basketball."

This week, Dorsey said his research on Harris indicated he could have gone to any SEC school he wanted for football, eventually. He had been a big, athletic star at wide receiver. Harris chose college basketball partly because of an uncertain academic profile that would have delayed his entry into big-time college football.

Harris, 27, is a younger version of Darren Fells, the 32-year-old former pro basketball player Dorsey added to the Browns' tight end group in 2018. Dorsey released Fells after one season and went younger with Harris.

Njoku, 22, is more than a year younger than Mayfield. He has been inconsistent but has obvious athleticism and is a candidate for a breakthrough year.

In 2018, Njoku was targeted 88 times and produced 56 catches. It was an improvement over his rookie year (60 targets, 32 catches), and now he is part of an offense that includes Beckham, has Mayfield in his second year, and has aroused great curiosity.

Count Harris, the new tight end, as quite curious.

"I can just feel around the building how excited everyone is," he said.

Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or

steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.